Greenhouse construction.



E. F. KUROWSKI.

GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.19,1908.

Patented Feb. 23, 1909.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

n a? wa/zzeg/ E. P. KUROWSKI.

GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION mum 33.19. 1908.

913 2 1 7 Patented Feb. 23, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED sharps PATENT OFFICE. i

EUGENE I KUROWsKI, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNQR TO THE JOHN e. Mommas com- PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CQRPOBATION OF ILLINOIS.

GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION.

I No. 913,217.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application flled'February 19, 1908. 'Seria1No.416,79'1.'

. structural features in connection therewith.

particularly A further novel feature consists in the provision of a" novel glass joint adapted to be disposed at the juncture of the roof and side ass to form a closed joint thereat.

Ot er features of the invention will be more fully described in connection with themain features of my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of a ortion of the structure shown in Fig. 1. *ig. 3 is a detail view, partly in elevation and partly in section, illustrating an improved roof support. Fig. 4 is a view of the part shown in Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrow 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of the cave ortion of the structure looking in the direction of the arrow 5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6- is a sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a sectional View on line 7-7 of Fig. .5, showing the improved glass joint. Fig. -8 is a similar view ofv a modified form of joint. Fig. 9 is a similar view showing a further modification of the joint. Fig. 10 is a sectional view on line 1010 of Fig. 2 without the roof supporting means. Fig. 11 is a sectional view on line 11-11 of Fig. 10.

Like numerals of reference designate similar arts throughout the different figures of t e drawings.

As shown, the roof structure, designated as awhole by=1,'is provided with ridge and cave portions 2 and 3 respectively. Said roof structure may conveniently consist of transversely disposed inclined roof bars 4 extending from the ridge to the cave portions in parallel relation and spaced apart from. each other as shown in Fig. 6. Suitable glass supporting shoulders are provided for said bars to receive the-roof glass 6 which spans the space between said bars to form a continuous roof surface. Said glass is usually held in place by brads as shown'in Fig. 1. Means are provided for supporting said roof structure and as shown said means is located at points inside of the eaves and .connections are provided for said means which connections are preferably adjustable. -C0nsidered specifically, in connection with the drawings, said means comprises eave or wall roof posts 7 supportingly secured to the roof bars and adjustably connected with each other so as to take up the vertical and angular stress imposed thereon by the weight of the inclined roof. As shown the adjustable connection may consist of a wire Patented Feb. 23, .1909.

or cable 8 transversely disposed and provided with a device for instance as a turnbuckle 9 for taking up the slack and maintaining said wire taut. The primary function of said wire is to prevent the posts 7 from spreading as a result of the lateral stress imposed thereon. Where the roof structure has a. span of considerable length, intermediate supporting means may be provided and said means may be in the form of intermediate posts 10. Where intermediate posts are provided the connecting wires 8 are preferably supported by said posts 10 so that they will not form obstructions in the greenhouse. If desire secured to the intermediate said wires 8 may be posts 10 in any suitable manner so as to assist in maintaining the roof ends of the post 10 in prescribed relation with respect to the roof.

Roof members are provided which are especiall designed for connection with the wall and interniediate.supportingposts and securing devices are provided for anchoring said members to said roof to effectively hol them in place so that they will withstand the angular stress imposed by the roof. As shown, said roof members consist of angle irons 11 and 12 which are secured to the bottom faces of the roof bars 4 in alinement with the cave and intermediate posts 7 and 10 respectively. Said angle irons are secured to said roof bars so that one angle pordpassageways of the In greenhouses,

tion 13 will lie flat against the same thereby Said clips are secured to the roof bars 4 at 17 and frictionally engage and overlap the angle portions 13 and said clips 16 are secured to the roof bars {1 at -18 and engage the projecting angle portions 14 along their outer faces and are provided with hooked ends 19which embrace the lower marginal portions 20. It will be seen by reference -to Fig. 11 that the clips 16'by means of their hooked ends 19 not only cooperate with the clips 15 to hold the angle portion 13in engagement with the roof bar but that they also effectively prevent the angle iron 11 from slipping downwardly on the roof bar. In constructing a greenhouse the supporting posts cannot always be located exactly -in position with respect to other parts and by means of the foregoing constructionitjwill be seen that the angle irons 11 and 12 and their retaining clips may be readily located or adjusted so as to accommodate such varia tion. Furthermore in using different Widths of roof glass the spacing of the roof bars varies and this form of securing devices can be attached to the angle iron at any point and entirely avoid the necessity of accurate calculation as to the relative position of the bars with respect'to the angle irons.

An improved form of fitting is provided to secure the posts 7 and 10 to the angle irons 11 and 12 respectively and said fitting comprise post engaging portions and memberengaging portions, which latter are adapted for engaging the angle irons. 11 and 12. In view of the fact that the roof struc- --ture when in place may incline at an angle slightly at variance with the plans of com struction, it is desirable to connect the member engaging portions with the post portions in such a manner as to permit of lateral or rotative adjustment of the former with respect to the latter, and in View of the fact that it is desirable to have a structural end to end engagement between the posts and the post portions, and as the posts cannot always be disposed in a mannerso as to bring their ends to the proper height, it

- is advantageous to be able to adjust the for the ends of the posts 7 and are provided with overhanging top portions 26 and 27 adapted for engagement with the upper ends 28 of the posts 7 so that the fitting will besupported by a structural enga ement vwith the posts. The bolts 25 will t erefore not be required to clamp the parts 21 and 22 on angle portion 14- in place.

the posts 7 with sufficient" pressure to sustain the load imposed by the roof but will merely be called upon to hold the parts 21 and 22 in engagement with the osts. If desired however the fittings may e adjusted lon itudinally of the posts and supported b blocks inserted betweenthe ends of the posts and the parts 26 and 27. One of the parts,

preferably 22, is provided with a projection 29 having round apertures through which bolts 30 and 31 pro ect- Member engaging portions 32 are provided and are bifurcated at 33 to receive the projecting portion 14 of the angle iron. A set screw 34or equivalent means is provided to ri idly secure the is provided with slots 35 and 36 to receive the bolts 30 and 31 and said bolts are pro vided-with nuts whereby the two parts of the'fitting 32 and 29 may be rigidly connected. The slots 35 and 36'have a common center 37 and the member 32 maybe rotated aid member 32 or laterally adjusted to bring the bifurcated portion in alinement with the angle iron by turning said member 32 about either'bolt 30' or 31 as a pivot or about the center 37. It

is desirable to have the lower end of the angle portion 14 in enga ement with the baseof the bifurcated portion 33 so that the member 32 will. structurally support the angle iron, the set screw 34 merely securing the angle iron in place. In order to adjust v the member 32 longitudinally when the post 7 is set too high or too low I desirably enlarge the slot 35 at 38 and the slot 36 at 39 '5 to afford such longitudinal adjustment. As

shown in Fig. 3 the ends of the wires 8 are bent about the angle iron's 11 and secured above the angle irons 12, in cases where in-' termediate posts 10 are employed, as clearlyshown in Fig. 1.

The supporting means for the roof, herethereto and if desired these wires may-pass I inbefore described, is designed tov support the same independently of the side walls of the greenhouse and by means of this feature the side walls are merely made of sufiicient strength to support the wall glass and therefore the heavy supporting construction usually employed inside walls is entirely avoided together with the resultant obstruction of light.

vided and the same extend vupwardlyt to a point usually equal to the height of the beds.

As shown, foundation walls 40 are pro- .The posts 7, may if desired, be embedded I in said walls 40. The side wallsproper consist of side bars 41 mounted on said walls 40.

by suitable constructions such as indicated a342, said bars 41 extending upwardly and joining the roof bars 4: at 43. Suitable means such. as indicated at 44 maybe provided to the roof bars 4 and as such means is not called upon'to' perform any other function hold the side bars 41 in engagement. with 1 so as to yield and permit re ative movement of the side androof bars under wind or rain pressure, that is, the roof bars may turn on a fulcrum formed by the inner edges at and the loose or floating oint member 47 between the side and roof glass will permit the roof glass to'move with said roof bars.

The sidebars are designed to receive the side glass 45 and may if desired be provided with shoulders 46 similar to the shoulders 5 of the roof bar 4.

In order to avoid the expense of and also to avoid the obstruction to light incident to the provision of a gutter at the-eaves and to )I'OVl'dG an effective means of closing the oint between the side and roof glass 46 and 6 respectively the following construction lS provided. f A glass juncture or joining member 47 is shown in Figs. 2, 5, 6 and 7 and said memberis preferably so constructed as to engage the overlapping marginal portions of angularly disposed plates of glass in such a 'ma nn er that the engagement therewith will not only hold said member itself in place but will also serve as a support for certainof the glass plates, Referring more particularly to Fig. 7 ,which shows said member 47 in cross-section, 48 designates a portion adapted to engage the lower cave margin of the roof glass 6 and said portion is of -sufficient height to make such engagement continuous even where the roof glass is bowed, as shown in Fig. 6. Said member 47 is bent at an angle to Iorm a supporting portion 49 adapted to engage the bottom surface of the roof glass and at 50 another bend is provided to engage the side glass 46. The portions 49 and 50 engage the side glass 46 at 51 and 52 and the weight of the roof glass 6 or the engagement thereof with said member 47 acts upon the portions 48 and 49 to keep the member- 47 in a given position, as shown, and also serves to maintain engagement at points 51 and 52. The pin shown in Figs. 5 and 6 hold the roof and side glass upon their supporting shoulders and a'ssist -in maintaining themember 47 in place. suitable filling of putty or the like may be disposed between the glass and the member 47 to provide an. air-tight joint. As shown in Fig. 7 the por-' portion 50 from the interior of thegreenhouse will maintain the parts 48 and 49, at a sufliciently high temperatureto prevent the formation of icicles adjacent 48 or in any place about the eaves. Said member 47 is conveniently in the form of a strip and is designed extend between the roof and sidev bars so as'to engage the latter with its ends but owin to the improved construction of said mem er 47 1t is not necessary to secure the same at its ends to the roof and side bars or at any point and therefore it. constiside glass 46 and wherein the pat-L54 cn-' gages the roof glass at its rear end 55 andis out of engagement with the roof glassat its 58 are filled with putty orthe like.

In Fig. 9 a modification is shown which is similar inall respects to the form shown in Fig. 8 with the exception that the 'part 53 is bent inwardlyat 59 to perform the function of the part'50 shown in Fig. 7.

It will be seen thatas either the weight of the glass or the brads engaging the same intermediate and lower portions. The part 56 j is increased in width and the spaces 57 and maintains engagement between the member 47 and the side glass so that the said memher will be rigidly held in place and owing to the retaining part 48 said member will prevent the eavepanes of glass from sliding downwardly. It will be further noted that. the connected side and intermediate posts together with the means for loosely connecting the roof and side glass and roof and side bars all 'coiiperate to provide an ett'ective closed structure with light obstructing parts reduced to a minimum.

I claim -1. A greenhouse construction comprising in combination, a roof bar, an angle iron secured thereto,: a supporting post, and a fitting comprising two separate portions embracing the side and top of said post, means for holding said portions in engagement with said post, one of said portions having a projection, a bifurcated member receiving and provided with means engaging a portion of said angle iron, and bolts securing said bifurcated member to said rojection, said member having slots recelving said bolts and formed to permit of rotative and longitudinal adjustment of said member with respect to said projections.

, '2. A greenhouse construction comprising 'in combination, vertical side glass, roof glass inclined with respect thereto and overhanging said side glass, and an caved joint member interposed between the juncture of said side and roof glass and having a por tion lyirbetween the lower face of the roof glass and the outer corner of the side glass and an upwardly bent outer extension engaging the outer overhanging margin of the roof glass, said member having a downwardly bent inner extension engaging and extending below the inner corner of the side glass and projecting angularly therefrom to catch and deflect the water of condensation from the roof glass and deflect the same .ed upon said vertically adjustable member.

4. In a. greenhouse construction," the combination with roof members, of depending members carriedthereby, a supporting post,

a two-part connection between said supporting post and said depending member, one part of said connection being rotatively and vertically adjustable upon said post, and the other part being swingingly mounted upon; said vertically adjustable member, said last named portion being bifurcated for the reception of said depending member, and means for binding said depending member within said bifurcated portion.

5. In a eenhouse construction, the combination with'the roof members, of longitudinally extending depending membersupon opposite ends of the greenhouse, supporting posts located upon opposite sides of thereenhouse, rotatively and vertically adustable members mounted upon the upper ends of the supporting posts, swinging members mounted upon the'vertically adjustable members and adapted to engage the depend- 3.;

ing members of the roof, a flexible member extending across the greenhouse, the oppo-' site ends of which areconnected to the depending members of the roof, and means for adjusting the tension of said flexible 40 member. a

6. "In a greenhouse construction, the combination with the supporting post, of the roof members, a longitudinally extending angle iron secured to said roof members,

one portion of saidrangle iron lying parallel with the roof members, and the other portion of said angleirondepending therefrom, a two-part-casing rotatively and vertically adjustable upon the upper end of the supporting post, means for binding the twoparts of said casing together, an upward extension carried by onepart of said casing, a transverse binding member carried by said extension, a bifurcated member having an arcuate slotformed therein through which said binding member passes, and

means for binding saidbifurcated member to the downwardly extending portion of the angle iron substantially as shown and de- 00 W itnesses:

Pi rnre L. McKnn, RUDOLPH E. KUROWSKI. 

